Stand, Together
by tachiKC
Summary: A Kei and Koishi one shot. Takes place during and after episode 8 of the series. What should have happened that night.
1. Standing Still

**Standing Still - Chapter 1  
**

* * *

Kei's thoughts turned over and over again in his mind. As he walked towards the train station, his thoughts turned to Mizuho and Koishi. "What do I do?" he said to himself. Koishi had called him down to the station quite late at night. He was pretty sure that she liked him, and if she did, he was not entirely sure what he would do, or what he _could _do. What if she wanted to continue what had started earlier...?

As he walked his thoughts again turned to Mizuho, and the last several months. Sure they lived together, and sure he liked her, but he didn't know whether those feelings were something akin to love, or if they were because she was incredibly attractive. "Maybe it's a little bit of both," he whispered to no one.

But then his thoughts turned to Koishi. He had known her since they had been very little, and had always been friends. He was very close to her, almost if not more so then Hyosuke. He had had a slight crush on her, but then this whole Mizuho thing had started and that had kind of been set to the wayside. However, as he grew nearer to the train station, he began to have those same feelings again. She really was quite beautiful, and honestly, if Mizuho had not shown up, he would probably have asked Koishi out. He chuckled as he remembered some of the fun times that the two of them had had. That date downtown really had been fun. Kei sighed. What am I supposed to do?

In the distance, he saw the station, and quickened his pace. His heart was actually racing. What is she going to say? What is she going to do? As he walked up the steps he took a deep breath. Well, he thought, here goes everything. Turning the corner, he saw Koishi.

"Hey Kei," she said somewhat shyly.

"Hey," he replied equally as shy.

Wow he thought as he took her in. She really was quite attractive. Incredibly and breathtakingly attractive. Why hadn't he noticed this more before?

"I'm sorry for calling you so late," she started as he took a seat next to her on the bench, "but you disappear often, and I didn't want that to happen again. Its like every time I blink, you disappear again..."

Kei could feel his heart racing faster and faster. "Well... uhh... I have low grades, and um, well I'm really busy you know..."

"I see," she replied softly.

Kei couldn't keep his eyes off of her, my God; if she does anything I think I may not be able to restrain myself. He had to get out of there. He started to get up, "Look... um I don't have a lot of time so..."

As he got up however, she grabbed his shirt, and put her arms around him. "This is the first time I've ever felt something like this. I just don't know what to do." she was sobbing now, "just watching isn't enough, just talking isn't enough, or even walking with you or being your classmate. Whenever I look at you my heart races so fast, and I get this feeling... that I don't know what it is, but I want to feel it even more!"

As she said this something inside Kei snapped. Everything finally came into focus. God he had been a fool for so long. All of the signs he had missed, all of the advances, all of the looks, the blushes, all these things that had been going on for so long. Suddenly he realized that he shared those feelings. That he cared for her too, but he had never really noticed that until now. He... loved... her, and here she was in his arms, opening her heart to him.

"I... love... you..." she said softly into his shirt."But... I don't know what to do... so you can do anything you want..."

As he looked down at her tear soaked face, his heart melted. God she was so beautiful. And her eyes. "Such pretty eyes..." he whispered. Koishi looked up again. Pulling her closer to him, he began to wipe the tears from her eyes. "You really are beautiful when you cry... you know that..."

Koishi blushed, "Kei..."

He leaned forward, "Shhhh..." he whispered, as he held her head, he leaned forward. As their lips touched, he felt her shudder. Pulling her closer, and putting his arms around her, he deepened the kiss. Finally he felt her return the kiss, slowly at first, but becoming more and more passionate. His need for her had never been this great. Her lips were so soft. Clutching her hair as their kiss deepened even further still, he let his tongue out, gingerly, and let it explore her own, shy but passionate.

Pulling away for a second to catch their breaths, Kei once again took her in. A soft moan of need escaped her mouth. He felt that same need. He kissed her again. It really was a hot night he thought, they were both sweating. He gazed at her, taking all of her in. Beads of sweat ran down her chest and into the crevice between her breasts. Her skin was literally shining from the perspiration, and he loved every bit of it.

They kissed again, but this time she was the instigator. She pushed him backwards on the bench, and leaned forward into him, supporting herself with her hands. Why hadn't he done this sooner!

"Kei..." she managed to breathe as she parted again, "Do you really think I'm beautiful?"

Kei nodded, "Yes... you're the most beautiful person I know... I just never realized it before..."

She put her head on his chest, sobbing again. "I'm glad..." she whispered, "I'm so glad..."

Kei leaned back, stroking her hair softly. Leaning forward, he kissed her on the forehead. He suddenly thought of Mizuho, and what this all could mean. However, for tonight, he just wished that this moment could last forever.

"Kei," Koishi whispered, "just hold me."

"Sure," he said.

Looking up at the stars, Kei felt something inside him stir, not unlike his standstills, but this was something different, something warm, something bright. Then he knew. So this is love, he thought.

As they lay entwined, Kei gazed into the stars. And for just a short while, time stood still.

FIN


	2. Worries

**Worries - Chapter 2 **

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Mizuho looked up at the clock again. It was past midnight and Kei still wasn't home. She stepped outside onto the deck. It felt good, as the temperature was finally cooling down with the rain, which was now coming down very slowly, tickling her skin. Leaning on the deck, gazed out towards the lake.

"Where could he be…" she whispered to herself.

After her study session with Matagu, she had hurried back in the rain. Kei had still been out with Herikawa at the time, so she had showered, and changed and did some grading. She had wanted him to come home, so that she could apologize for their fight earlier, and to tell him that nothing had happened with Matagu. However, as the hours ticked by with no sign of Kei, she had begun to worry. Where was he? Had he and Herikawa been hurt? Or… the thought crossed her mind. NO! That couldn't be happening. It just couldn't.

"Maybe he went over to Minoru's house," she said to herself, or rather hoped she thought as she dialed the number.

After some time, Minoru finally answered. "Hello? Do you know what time it… oh hi Miss Kazami. What? Kei hasn't returned yet. Really? You say he went out with Herikawa? Hmm. Well, I haven't heard anything from him, but if he comes here I send him to you. Okay, goodnight now."

As she hung up, she just couldn't get out the feeling that something was going on between Kei and Herikawa. First there had been the date, and now this? Plus all the other instances at school that she picked up on daily.

NO, she thought. I have got to get these thoughts out of my head. There had to be a perfectly logical explanation to all this. But… she thought, hopefully not THAT explanation.

It reached 4am and with still no sign of Kei, Mizuho reluctantly went to sleep.

Mizuho groaned as the alarm went off. Reaching out, she hit the snooze button. Then she remembered and sat up quickly. Looking over at her side, she saw that Kei STILL wasn't there. Now she was really worried. As she got ready for the day, her mind churned with thoughts of what could have happened. As she walked to school, she told herself that if Kei wasn't there, that she would call the police after class.

However, as she opened the door, she saw both Kei and Herikawa in their seats. Puzzled, she walked over to the podium. "Kei, Herikawa, I would like to have a talk with you two after class, okay?" They both looked at each other, and she saw something flash between their eyes. What was that? She wondered. Something was definitely going on.

"So, the reason why I called you two here was because Kei, your uncle called me very late at night and told me that you hadn't shown up yet, and that you had gone out with Herikawa later that evening. He was very worried about you. When I saw you both here at school, I felt that it is my responsibility as your teacher to find out what is going on between you two."

Selecting another Pocky stick from the box she was holding, she eyed Kei. She knew that he knew that what she was really asking was "where were you last night? And was Herikawa with you." Then she noticed that Herikawa was blushing and looking to the floor. Looking back at Kei, she realized that he too was blushing.

"If something is going on between you two, I would like to know NOW!" she said, probably a little to forcefully.

Herikawa blushed even more, and looked towards Kei, "Well, you see Miss Kazami, me and Kei just went… out and um..."

"We just went out, ok. Does it really matter what we did? Does our TEACHER really need to know?"

She looked at Kei, shocked. He was no longer blushing but looked quite angry. Her heart skipped a beat. Why was he angry with her? She had been worried sick about him all night, and had discovered him at school all safe and sound. Shouldn't _she _be the one who was angry? But she wasn't. Instead, a feeling of anguish was starting to wash over her.

Regaining her composure, she said "Well, I simply wanted to inform you that your aunt and uncle were very worried about you Kei, and that if you were the reason that he was late Herikawa, to just be more careful in the future. If something really is going on between you two, then please try to be more courteous of other people's concerns." She sighed. "That will be all."

As they walked out, Mizuho suddenly felt all alone, and feelings of jealousy and fear went through her thoughts. Something was DEFINITELY going on between them. She looked outside, and gazed out into the courtyards. Her thoughts turned to her relationship with Kei over the past months. While they had gotten fairly affectionate she had thought, she had never really truly felt that Kei loved her. And lately, he had grown even further apart from her. She sighed, what was she going to do? She loved Kei, but didn't know where their relationship was headed.

Looking out again, she saw Kei and Herikawa sitting down next to one another under a tree on the far side of the courtyard. Just then, a feeling of anger snapped through her. What WAS he doing with her. Then she saw Herikawa put her head on his lap. Her jealousy bubbled to the surface, mixed with anger.

"That does it," she exclaimed, "Marie! I want you to keep an eye out on Kei and Herikawa, and to hear what they are saying. This is a priority one!"


End file.
